Renati wiped his hands down the front of his coat again. “If I had to venture a guess, Keller probably just took out one of the walls that keep the dead out.”
“Blew a wall?” Hammond’s jaw dropped open. He swiftly composed himself, but I caught a moment of uncertainty sneaking across his face. “Why would he…and how…?”
“Spite?” the doctor suggested. “Maybe it was an accident.”
Sure. And maybe I’d wake up from this really terrible dream and all would be right with the world again.
The general’s hands briefly clenched into fists. “Who would knock down a—never mind. I knew we were coming to Crazy Town. This just proves it.”
People were pausing in clumps to look at the smoke rising from the explosion site. From this distance, none of us could really tell what had come down. A wall? A building?
No one screamed. Maybe they didn’t quite grasp what was going on, or were in shock.
“Should we evacuate?” I asked.
Hammond threw back his head and laughed.
“Evacuate to where?” he asked. “One of the other abandoned towns? Or maybe you want us to fight that herd gathering in Muldoon. There’s nowhere else to go. I have five thousand civilians waiting outside that nice wall you guys built. I brought them here.”
“You brought everyone?” Tony leaned away, aghast.
“Elderwood wasn’t defensible anymore.”
I didn’t ask what that meant.
Hammond swung around, critically studying the arena, the fleeing people, and the surrounding buildings. Then he looked toward the smoke in the distance again. “One breach in an interior fence isn’t so bad. My soldiers can help plug it. But will Keller’s men give us trouble?”
“You want to take over the city,” I said. “Are you serious?”
“I didn’t come all this way in a goddamn tank to pick you up and leave, Orvik.”
And here I’d thought he just wanted to save us.
He does. But he wants to save all of us. Everyone.
Thirty thousand people in Hastings.
“The men might rally to Durkee,” Renati said. “Maybe.”
“General!” I perked up my ears at the sound of the familiar voice floating toward us. “General!”
I swung around. Sergeant Poltava was rushing our way, her rifle banging against her back with every step. Holy shit, I hadn’t seen her in weeks. She was dragging another soldier along behind her, and they skidded to a stop in front of us. She shoved her dazed-looking accomplice forward, right into Hammond’s face. “This is Private Hawkins, part of Keller’s security detail,” she said. “He says Keller blew the Chapman Barrier. It’s somewhere inside the Quarantine Zone, a real wall they threw up when things got bad.”
“Wall,” Hammond repeated. “They have walls inside, too?”
He directed this question to Tony and me, but we just looked back in confusion. I had stayed inside what felt more and more like a bubble during my time in Hastings, the bulk of my time spent at home, at work, and in jail.
“Yes sir,” Poltava said. “There are two barriers within the Quarantine Zone: the chain link fence the civilians see, and then proper walls deeper inside.”
The general blinked in surprise. “One of which has been blown up?”
Poltava jabbed Hawkins in the ribs, and he nodded. “Yes, sir. I think so. The direction and distance of the smoke…that’s all it could be.”
“There weren’t too many hunkered down at the fence when we got here,” Poltava added, “but I sent a scout in this morning and he said there were thousands behind the wall itself.”
I almost dropped the axe. “Thousands?”
The ground rumbled. Hammond’s tank rolled out of the stadium, ready for more action.
Private Hawkins turned around to stare at it. “Where the fuck did that come from?”
“I crashed the party,” Hammond said.
“Soldier,” Tony said, “I’d suggest you reconsider your loyalties to Keller. Because shit’s about to go down in this town.”
“Stop rhyming,” I said.
“Be cool. I’m old school.”
The soldier looked between the two of us. “There’s a wall of zombies coming for the breach,” he said. “Chapman runs straight through the city. They’ll be here within hours…I was about to run for my life. Maybe you should, too.”
“Maybe not,” Hammond said. “You stay right here, Private. I can use you.”
Hawkins looked ready to bolt, but stood his ground for the time being.
“General, this could get very bad very soon,” Poltava said.
“Agreed.” He pivoted and looked at us. “You know where Durkee is?”
“Yeah,” I said. “Well. Sort of.”
“I’ll set up a perimeter. Poltava, you go with them—we need to get a look at this breach and see if we can plug it.”
“Yes, sir,” I said.
He considered my admittedly old-fashioned weaponry. “And maybe get yourselves some guns. Not that I’m not digging the 300 vibe.”
“I was going more for Gladiator,” I said.
He smiled, but his mind had already moved in. “Hawkins, you’re with me. Come on.”